Leeds hold off Wigan to extend Super 8s advantage
Last Updated: 15/08/15 8:55am
Super 8s leaders Leeds improved their chances of a home play-off semi-final with a 25-18 victory over Wigan in a bruising encounter at Headingley Carnegie.
The Rhinos went into the match without a specialist hooker in the absence of Paul Aiton but continued their fine recent form against Super League's top sides to move four points clear of the chasing pack.
Leeds held a comfortable 20-4 lead at the break after tries from Danny McGuire, Joel Moon and Ryan Hall, and eight points from the boot of Kevin Sinfield.
Wigan were struggling to match their two previous performances against Leeds and had just Liam Farrell's try to show for their first-half efforts.
The second-rower crossed again midway through the second half to give the Warriors hope, but the Rhinos wrapped up a fourth straight home win over Wigan courtesy of the 99th try of Kallum Watkins' career and a Zak Hardaker drop goal.
John Bateman and Dom Manfredi went over late on for Wigan but they were left to reflect on a first defeat in five.
The Rhinos hit the front in just the third minute after a lengthy review by the video referees, who ruled McGuire had stayed in play as he touched down in the corner after pouncing on a loose ball.
Wigan's response was almost immediate as George Williams put a neat kick in behind and Farrell reacted first to a fumble by Tom Briscoe to score, with the off-field officials again signing the try off.
Matty Smith could not match Sinfield in converting from out wide so Leeds led 6-4 after an eventful opening 10 minutes.
Both sides were dishing out some punishing hits in defence and kicking for territory at every opportunity.
The physical battle was playing into Wigan's hands but they found themselves 12-4 down midway through the half when Moon got downward pressure on a neat grubber kick from McGuire and Sinfield added the extras.
The Leeds captain was on target again a few minutes later after Joel Tomkins caught Stevie Ward with a high shot.
Mitch Achurch came off the bench to make his first appearance since Magic Weekend but was carried off with a head injury within a minute of his introduction.
The intensity did not drop despite the lengthy delay and the atmosphere went up a notch when Wigan were awarded three penalties in quick succession.
Dogged Rhinos defence, including a brilliant one-on-one tackle by Hardaker on rampaging prop Ryan Sutton, kept the Warriors out and they strengthened their position a minute from half-time through Hall's try from Sinfield's left-footed kick.
There was the suspicion of a knock-on by the stand-off in the build-up but the video referees gave the green light before Sinfield goaled from the touchline.
The second half came to life after a relatively quiet opening when Bateman and Ward were involved in a set-to, although the next try did not arrive until the 58th minute.
It went the way of Wigan after another trip to the video referees, who were happy Farrell grounded the ball after going himself from dummy half.
But any hope that would spark a comeback was extinguished when Watkins scored for the fifth match in a row on the back of a sparkling break by McGuire.
Hardaker slotted over a one-pointer for the first time in his career but the visitors kept going and made the score respectable thanks to late tries from Bateman and Manfredi.
